How Far Beretta Will Go To Make You Love Guns

“We checked all the
Hollywood crap at the door.”
—Mark Wahlberg, speaking about the making of Lone
Survivor, in USA Today, December 22, 2013.

Even though it just opened on Christmas, Lone Survivor
has made more money in the U.S. than Oscar-nominated thriller
Captain Phillips, which opened back in October—and also
stars Navy SEALs. Lone Survivor also beat big 2013 movies
like The Hangover 3, Pacific Rim, Oblivion, and
Elysium.

Lone Survivor has already made half as much in the U.S.
as 1998’s Saving Private Ryan, the epic war film to which
critics—and its marketing material—favorably
compare it. It’s already beaten the war film it most
resembles—Black Hawk Down—and its recent SEALs film
peers—Act of Valor and Zero Dark Thirty. It’s
creeping up on Platoon.

In Texas, at least one theatre
canceled all of its other films in order to put, on all of its
screens, the true story of 2005’s Operation Red Wings, in which
three of a four-man SEAL team were killed, along with all aboard a
rescue helicopter. It has a 90 percent audience “high” rating on
Rotten Tomatoes and is now without a doubt by far the most popular
film ever made about the the Naval Special Warfare Command’s Sea,
Air and Land teams, which we know as the Navy SEALs.

But despite Wahlberg’s claim about “checking” all the Hollywood
stuff, Lone Survivor is a terrific vehicle for product
placement. One firearms maker, with a storied history of trying to
attach its name to the Navy’s legendary teams, certainly saw the
retelling of the last hours of three SEALs’ lives and thought:
“What a great marketing opportunity.”

Beretta’s M9 pistol appeared prominently during one of Lone
Survivor‘s most heart-wrenching scenes: A SEAL more or less
sacrifices himself for a teammate. The gun’s appearance immediately
set off online discussions
by those in-the-know.

In his last moments, the SEAL—portrayed by actor Ben
Foster—draws a Beretta M9 and hopelessly tries to defend himself
against countless Taliban fighters. While the Beretta M9 is the
officially issued sidearm of the U.S. armed forces, generally SEALs
carry SIG Sauer pistols. Numerous pictures
taken of the four real SEALs on duty prior to that mission show the
men carrying SIG Sauers. The M9 is particularly disfavored by SEALs
for a number of reasons.

“If Beretta paid the producers of Lone Survivor to put their
weapons in the film, it was to impress wannabe SEALs. It had
nothing to do with influencing actual SEALs or other SOF”—soldier
of fortune—”types,” a former SEAL, and father of a SEAL, told me
when asked about Beretta’s role in the film. (He asked that he not
be named.) “The Beretta pistol 92FS or M9 has never been a favorite
of the SEALs,” he said.

In Lone Survivor, the original book by Marcus Luttrell
about the Red Wings mission, the SIG Sauer is mentioned twice. In
No Easy Day, the book account of the mission that killed
Osama bin Laden, the Sig P226 is also identified. The film based on
that book, Zero Dark Thirty, also made a distinct point to use the SIG
Sauer on-screen. In his hit book American Sniper, the late
SEAL Chris Kyle noted that he carried a Springfield 1911 model
until switching to the SIG Sauer P220.

In 1985, the U.S. military switched its official sidearm from
the decades-old and iconic 1911 to the Beretta M9. It was a
landslide for Beretta: more than 321,000 guns and tens of millions
of dollars in guaranteed orders. Being able to market itself as the
official sidearm of our very discerning and globally preeminent
fighting force meant even more profits in the civilian market.
Beretta’s plan was plainly outlined in a 1993
Baltimore Sun interview with Robert Bonaventure, then
CEO of Beretta USA. Bonaventure explained that Beretta made it a
mission to win the military contract and leverage it to make
Beretta a household name—a name that would get it into the law
enforcement market and, eventually, the everyday gun buyer. To win
the contract, Beretta’s bid charged the military a nearly
break-even price of around $225 a pistol. The price tag on the gun
for civilian customers who wanted the “same” pistol used by the
military? About $625.

But Beretta’s grand plan jammed. Just a few years after its
contract award, Naval Special Warfare units started reporting slide
failures with the M9, resulting in several severe facial injuries.
(Today, the
myth “You’re not a SEAL until you taste Italian steel” refers
to this method of Beretta testing—though, it seems the motto is
more urban myth than truth.)

Initially, Beretta blamed the Navy, saying its men were firing
improper rounds. Investigations found the fault was with Beretta,
which had used substandard steel from Italy. Guns were rejected;
Beretta appealed. A new request for bids was issued but which
itself brought protest from other makers like Smith & Wesson,
claiming Beretta was being treated too leniently. Government
Accountability Office records from 1988 and 1989 show numerous
filed protests and dismissals. Beretta ultimately moved production
to the U.S., was awarded a new contract and resolved its
problem.

But Beretta’s M9 rollout was the Obamacare of official military
sidearms.

With its problems finally worked out, the M9 went on to have a
successful operational life as America’s military sidearm. In 2012,
its contract was re-upped. But both performance reasons and
Beretta’s initial scapegoating of Navy operators left a bitter
taste in SEALs’ mouths (pun intended). Because SEALs can carry any
firearm they see fit, in 1989 SEALs dropped the Beretta that some
of them had carried since 1979 and instead began carrying the SIG
Sauer. They never went back.

Within the firearms trade, “tactical” has become a hot sector.
The tacticalization of the firearms market can also be seen in
examples like the increasing civilian popularity of
military-birthed rifles like AR-15s, those guns’ highly
customizable rail systems, Barrett Firearm’s .50 cal “sniper”
rifles, “bull-pup” tactical shotguns, holographic sights and muzzle
add-ons like suppressors (silencers) and MOLLE gear. So, so much MOLLE
gear.

1. One linguistic
example of how the more militarized domestic police forces are
seeing themselves more and more like SEALs is how
these law enforcement and SWAT units refer to themselves as
“operators,”
a term historically reserved for only top-tier military personnel.
Another is the blurring divide between military special operators
like SEALs and private contractors who fill the many cracks in the
“War on Terror.” A perfect case in point is the new book
Civilian Warriors: The Inside Story of Blackwater and the Unsung
Heroes of the War on Terror… by Blackwater founder, and former
SEAL, Erik
Prince.

2. According to
a Spy magazine investigation (“Steven Seagal- Man Of
Dishonor”; July/August 1993), Steven Seagal—who portrayed a Navy
SEAL at least twice onscreen—used to brag to people that he had
been a Navy SEAL.

This boom in “tactical” has been fed in part by an increased
militarization of
America’s police forces that has resulted in local sheriff’s
deputies conducting
day-to-day law enforcement while so geared up that they are
nearly impossible to distinguish from, say, soldiers involved in an
Afghanistan operation like Red Wings.1
It’s a marketplace where terms like “operator” and “downrange” are
now used by consumers who are not, and will never be, either. The
poster children of this phenomenon are the police chief of the
Chicago suburb of Waukegan, who
lied on his resume about attending the BUD/S training that
qualifies Navy SEALs and one
Mr. Steven Seagal.2
(It’s also no surprise that even though “tactically geared” police
forces may look more and more like SEALs, they are far more
blundering and dangerous; the Cato Institute’s interactive map of
Botched Paramilitary Police
Raids is a fright to behold.)

Then came a rush of websites and blogs—like Tactical-Life.com,
TacticalGear.com, “Silent Professionals” and
TacticalFanboy.com—which all inventory and detail tactical
products. There is nothing more “tactical” than a SEAL. The SEALs
are now a booming business—Florida’s Navy SEAL Museum, founded in 1985,
has seen attendance spike from just over 25,000 in 2008 to well
past 60,000 in 2011, the year SEAL Team Six killed bin Laden. A
product that is genuinely linked to the Navy Seals can see its
sales fortunes made.

Why wouldn’t brands latch on to Hollywood SEALs for marketing?
But those looking to team with real-life high-profile ex-Seals do
not have many options. First, retired SEALs are generally loathe to
come across as shills. There area also just not that many
well-known SEALs out there. Resco wristwatches partnered with
former Navy SEAL sniper and author of
The Red Circle Brandon Webb. And before he was
killed in Texas in 2012, ex-SEAL sniper and author of
American Sniper Chris Kyle was part of Kryptek Outdoor
Group’s pro staff. SOG Knives has enlisted the
spokesmanship of Rorke Denver, one of the “real life” SEAL stars of
2012’s Act of Valor and author of
Damn Few: Making the Modern SEAL Warrior.

Other former SEALs, like Jesse Ventura (BUD/S class 58, conspiracy loon,
hurried bleeder) and Ben Smith (Tea Party birther who accused Obama of collaborating with
Islamic fundamentalists), are not exactly commercially
attractive. (Though, it must be said that SEALs have become very
politically attractive. For example, Smith is a popular
Tea Party event and National 912 PAC spokesman, and Marcus Luttrell
has appeared on behalf of the NRA and endorsed Texas Governor Rick
Perry for president.)

Lacking a genuine Navy SEAL endorsement is by no means a
roadblock to leveraging a SEAL association. California-based
weapons accessory manufacturers MFI offer a “MFI M4 Navy Seal
Marked Style Fake Silencer” that will make an AR15-style rifle look
like the short barrel of the M4 carried by many SEALs (including
those in Lone Survivor).
MFI’s “dummy can” shroud is laser-engraved with the SEAL eagle
emblem. Gun maker Ruger recently released a SR1911 Navy Seal
Foundation .45 ACP pistol. The limited edition of 500 pistols sold
for around $1,000 each; Ruger donated
$50,000 of that to the Navy SEAL Foundation. Even Airsoft gun
sellers on Amazon list their replicas as “Navy
SEAL Assault Rifle.” Sunglasses brand Gatorz was also quick
to point
out its “tactical” appearance in Lone Survivor.
Gunbroker.com is filled with products labeled “SEALs.” And in a
2012 Faircount Media special publication Navy SEALs 50:
Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Establishment of the U.S.
Navy SEALs, Universal Pictures took out a full page ad saluting
the anniversary and the SEALs on behalf of the entire cast and crew
of its 2012 film Battleship. Peter Berg directed that film
before Lone Survivor; Universal bought the rights for
Lone Survivor in 2007.

Meanwhile, Beretta, barring a real life association with the
SEALs, is hoping to reach armchair operators by paying to put
itself in the hands of Hollywood actors pretending to be real-life
SEALs. Lone Survivor was not their first shot.

In the immediate aftermath of the 2011 killing of Osama bin
Laden, Beretta
rushed out an advertisement congratulating SEAL Team Six on a
“job well done!” The ad featured non-SEAL operators wielding the
Beretta M9. The ad’s accompanying commentary:

“Beretta shares a close association with the U.S military,
particularly Navy SEAL Team Six, having intimately collaborated
with members of the team during the initial design phase of what
would become the venerable M9, the official sidearm of the U.S.
Armed Forces. The SEALS recognized Beretta’s skill, experience,
research capabilities and resources, and it is those same
benchmarks that Beretta Defense Technologies continues to utilize
today as they strive to serve those who defend freedom around the
world.”

A person reading that would almost think SEALs carry Berettas.
That’s surely Beretta’s hope. And if that wasn’t enough, Beretta’s
ad had the balls to credit with collaboration the same group that
it tried to blame during its failures in the late 1980s.

It’s definitely worth noting that some SEALs see the whole thing
as a tempest in a teapot. Don Shipley, the wildly charismatic
former SEAL behind Extreme SEAL
Experience—and host of an entertaining and necessary
weekly Youtube series that publicly outs and embarrasses fake
Navy SEALs—told me it’s no big deal. Shipley, who considers himself
a friend of Luttrell’s, said he understands that Hollywood is going
to be Hollywood. He said it’s only the gun obsessives who key in on
the detail.

Beretta is well aware of the power of film over reality. In his
1993 interview, Beretta’s Robert Bonaventure pointed to successes
the gun maker had in the films Lethal Weapon and
Die
Hard. More recently, Beretta has used Twitter to point out
its product placements, like in Mr. and
Mrs. Smith and “The
Walking Dead.” (Ironically enough, Berettas were also the
sidearm of choice in the silly, Charlie Sheen-helmed 1990 film
Navy Seals.) Luttrell is certainly aware of the power of
film. In an interview with Fox News, the author
said, “No matter how many times I get up and tell (my story),
or how many people read the book, it’s nothing compared to how many
people will watch this film.”

Then there is the fact that Beretta has cozied up to Lutrell
since he retired from carrying a SIG Sauer as an active SEAL. Going
back to 2009, Beretta has
sponsored Luttrell in its Outdoor network show “Wild and Raw,”
a hunting series in which Luttrell and others “put the line up of
Beretta guns and gear to the test.” Also, Beretta donated $5,000 to
Lutrell’s Lone Survivor Foundation. (Under Armour—which was also,
dubiously, all over in the film—is a Lone Survivor Foundation
supporter and last year partnered with the organization for an
elaborate
Lone Survivor Texas Tech college football uniform.)

Beretta did not reply to requests for comment. Despite a
willingness to boast online about “successfully integrating Beretta
into Lone Survivor,” when reached for comment, Brand-in
Entertainment refused to answer any of my questions. Luttrell’s
representatives told me he was only a consultant and suggested I
call director Peter Berg’s production company. (In addition to
appearing in two uncredited roles in the final film, Luttrell used
numerous interviews to talk about his close involvement in the
film.)

In the meantime, Lone Survivor‘s huge box office has
Hollywood on the hunt for similar tales of real-life SEAL valor.
The late Chris Kyle’s life story is already in production with
Clint Eastwood and Bradley Cooper. Fearless, the story of
the late SEAL Adam Brown, has also been mentioned. Probably not on
the radar is the recent story of Brett Jones, the SEAL whose
operational career was ended when the Navy
discovered he is gay. Plenty of new projects for Beretta’s
Hollywood representatives to be on the lookout for.

In the end, there is one real-world incident involving a SEAL
endorsing a Beretta that might interest the gun maker. In a
senselessly dreadful event in 2009, two men shot Marcus Luttrell’s
dog DASY. (The name was an acronym for his team members.) While
pursuing the shooters at high speed, Luttrell called 9-1-1, informing the
operator he was armed and giving chase.

“What kind of gun do you have?” asked 911.

“I got two 9 millimeter Berettas,” Luttrell said.

Endnote: The vast discrepancies between what
happened during Operation Red Wings, the events Marcus Lutrell
described in his book, and the fantasy finally portrayed in Mark
Wahlberg and Peter Berg’s film has been vivisected in excruciating detail by
the excellent blog On Violence. It’s a must-read to understand
“anti-military Hollywood” posturing and how a tragic battle during
our nation’s most complicated and longest war is reduced to a
Department of Defense recruiting film. And, of course, a chance for
a U.S. gun maker to market some pistols.